Hypocrisy of Azerbaijan's New Hijab Ban

TL:DR I want to call out the hypocrisy of Azerbaijan's new Hijab ban. The Azerbaijan Government claims it's Ban is a form of enforcing Secularism in schools and they use "amendments to the general education law and Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 309 that prohibit any clothing or additional items that disrupt the standard school uniform or conflict with secular educational principles."

This is all complete CAP. (Please if you have time read the rest. Ive tried to organize this post the best I can)

1) Secular education by definition is "a system of learning focused on science, math, literature, history, and the arts using rational thought, evidence, and critical thinking while maintaining neutrality on religious matters." Firstly, this does not include enforcement on religious garments. Someone's personal clothing does not affect a teaching system. Secondly let's focus on the "Neutrality on religious matters". Azerbaijan's new ban is exclusively towards Hijabs. Jewish boys can continue to wear kippahs. This is NOT religious neutrality or equality. If schools were truly trying to enforce fully secular dress codes ALL religious garments would be banned

2) Azerbaijan's OWN CONSTITUTION says that this new law is illegal.

Article 18 Establishes that religion is separate from the state, all religions are equal before the law, and secular education is enforced. (See 1. This is not religious equality and secular education does not include passive clothing choices in schools.)

Article 48 Guarantees the right to independently determine one's attitude to religion, to profess any religion individually or with others, or to profess no religion at all. It states that no one can be forced to express or demonstrate religious beliefs or be persecuted for them. (Preventing women from Choosing to express their religion through a religious garment goes against this rule)

Article 28The law on freedom of religious belief of the Azerbaijan Republic shall be controlled in accordance with the existing legislation. (You cannot legally create and enforce new laws that go against the Constitutions establishment of religious freedoms and equality)

Article 4 Citizens of the Azerbaijan Republic have equal legal rights in all spheres of political, economic, public and cultural life regardless of their attitude to religion. Indication of citizens' attitude to religion in official documents shall be allowed upon his/her wish only. (Coming back to the lack of religious equality)

3) I have been seeing far to many Non-Muslims agreeing with this new law. They see it as Azerbaijan "freeing" these girls and women from Islam and that they should just take it off beacause it's just a peice of cloth. If it was just a peice of cloth it would not be banned under the educational secularism that the Azerbaijan government claims. Secondly if you At all believe in womens rights and feminism you have to believe in freedom of choice. Azerbaijan is preventing these women and girls from the choice to do with their bodies what they wish. If you truly support women's freedom you should support a woman's right to wear a religious garment the same as you support a woman's choice to wear a bikini. If you TRULY support women's choice and freedom and education you should support women's right to wear their religious garments and still get an education and a career. If you don't think women should be given an option to wear it or not wear it then you do not support women's choice, you do not support her body her choice like you claim. Women deserve religious freedom just like those Jewish boys deserve their religious freedom to wear a kippah.

I do not care if you are Atheist, Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Agnostic, Satanist, Pagan, Buddhist, Hindu, Shinto, Sikh, etc. If you believe in human rights, human freedoms, religious equality, humanitarianism, Egalitarianism, Philanthropy, and Inclusivity you should support these women's right to wear their religious garment and go to school while doing it.

Here in the US we used to have rules about where you could sit down to eat, where you could use the restroom, where to be on the bus, where to drink water or coffee, and oh yeah, who was allowed to enter what school.

Wars have been fought over this. The civil rights movement was born out of this. If you support the makers of these biased regulations, you’re on the side that will lose again and again.

For months, my father had been shutting my mother out because she talked back to him. He was also making her pay for nearly everything, even though he earns her yearly salary in less than two months. He expected her to cover all the groceries and my siblings’ dorm rent.

One day, my sister ran out of food and begged him for money. He decided to put money on my card so I could send it to her through Zelle. I accidentally gave him the wrong PIN because I had recently changed it and didn’t want him to be able to drain my bank account. I work as a substitute teacher and don’t make much. When he got home, he yelled at me and accused me of giving him the wrong PIN on purpose. He often accuses people of acting maliciously, even when the explanation is simple, and seems convinced that everyone is evil except him.

He then told me I had to pay him $600 a month for my car because I had given him the wrong PIN. The car is in his name. He bought it for me about a year ago, even though I never asked for a new car and wanted to use one of our older cars. I mainly substitute at my mother’s school and carpool with her to work, so I don’t use the car much. When I said I wouldn’t pay, he demanded my keys and rushed after me. I hurried away and gave him my keys back, which made him angrier.

Then he demanded my phone. I said no. At first he backed off, but then he rushed upstairs after me and demanded it again. Before he could put his hands on me, I pushed him away and kept trying to stop him from coming into my room. He grabbed my hair and ripped it out of my scalp. It sounded like Velcro.i was screaming in agony and he didn’t care.
He only let go because my mom made him.
I’ve never put my hands on anyone before, but I felt I had to defend myself. A few months ago, he took my electronics for six months because I was depressed. He has never been a good father. The only reason he let me work was that he had already ruined my chance to go to school and felt guilty about it.

My sister studies Islam at an Islamic school while working toward a master’s degree in medical technology. She does everything right, yet she still had to beg him for money when she ran out of food.

I feel overwhelmed with guilt about what happened, and my father says he feels guilty too. But whenever he apologizes, he takes it back and says, “Wait, never mind—I didn’t do anything wrong.” He has serious anger issues, and I suspect he may have a personality disorder, though he has never been diagnosed. He knows his behavior isn’t normal but refuses medication or other help. He seems to believe we should tolerate him treating us badly, and that people need to fear him in order to love him.

I haven’t spoken to him since the incident.

Salaam all,

For those that speak Arabic, which of these two translations is closest to the classical Arabic of the Qur'an?

They are both very similar in the English language, with Arberry slightly more "succinct".

Any thoughts would be massively appreciated!

JazakAllah Khair!

Assalamu Alaikum everyone,

Alhamdulillah, my family and I have a stable life here in Europe, and we are incredibly grateful for the security and opportunities we have. However, since the birth of our child, my perspective has shifted significantly. I find myself increasingly concerned about the long-term spiritual and social environment our little one will grow up in.

I am reaching out to this community to hear how other parents are navigating these challenges, and to ask for your practical advice, suggestions, or coping mechanisms. Specifically, I am reflecting on the following points:

1. Halal Meat Integrity (Zabiha): It is difficult to find absolute certainty regarding how meat is slaughtered here, given the strict local regulations regarding stunning/electric shock before slaughter. How do you handle this? Do you stick to trusted local butchers, organic certifications, or specific import brands?
2. Cultural & School Exposure: Children in public schools are heavily exposed to un-Islamic or Christian-rooted celebrations like Halloween, Christmas events, and secular school societies. While we teach right from wrong at home, the daily peer exposure is massive. How do you handle school events without isolating your child socially?
3. Open Secular Values & LGBTQ+ Curriculums: Modern European societies openly promote lifestyles and relationship models that directly contradict Islamic ethics, often introducing these concepts very early in school. How do you talk to your children about these topics while preserving their Haya (modesty) and Islamic worldview?
4. The Dilemma of Moving Back (Hijrah): I often think about whether we should sacrifice our stable Dunya (worldly life) here and migrate back to a Muslim country for the sake of our child's Deen. However, home countries are currently facing severe financial pressure, peak inflation, and their own waves of un-Islamic influences and fitna. If we must sacrifice financial stability for Deen, is it worth it? Or is it wiser to stay in Europe and fortify our children's faith internally?

I would love to hear your experiences, book recommendations, or community initiatives that have helped your families.

Jazakum Allahu Khairan! Let’s support each other in this journey of Tarbiyah.

Hello, My mother has incredibly rude and hurtful to my new wife for quite some time. Today was a new level of her insulting my in laws over her anger. I'm constantly arguing with her over it where we're both screaming and throwing things. She even calls me a bad son constantly. How can I manage this as a shia knowing the feet of paradise are under her feet. I pay for her phone, her car, I buy food for her home bas she even threatened to throw away the food with for her today. I need advice on how to manage

Hello 28 year old male here im sure this question gets asked many many times but i am and have had a lot of interest in islam for a long time. As a white Christian from a conservative family i literally have no idea how to even approach new faiths. Im not sure how the process works just looking for guidance.

Hello, I know so little about Islam now, but want to learn about it. So when Muhammad was alive, how did he make people believe what he says? What qualified him? Because just telling them to follow him itself would not be enough, because anyone can do that. Did people see him performing miracles? Were things about him prophesied? What made people believe his words, ending up making his companions write the Quran?

Hi all. I’m Khadijah, and for context I recently took my Shahada at my local mosque 🥳 (oml I still can’t believe it!).

However, as I begin to start living as a Muslim, I’m left wondering what to do with my accounts that show me before I reverted. Those accounts use my old first name as their usernames, have pictures of me in outfits that aren’t modest withount hijab, drinking, etc.

What should I do about them? Purging them all I’m afraid will make me look too radical or invite too much attention, but I don’t want to remain too tethered to my old name and also having those photos publically posted feels so wrong. I’m just a bit overwhelmed haha

Atheists and ex-Muslims who came/came back to Islam,what is your story?how did you come back?

Assalamualaikum

This is a question for my brother's and sisters who were Atheists or ex Muslims how and why did you come to Islam/convert?

This is for both brothers and sisters.

What are your thoughts on people who say that hijab wearing women are brainwashed or Islam is not made for the modern world?

I just have to get this off my chest, for one month straight I prayed tahajjud, i really wanted a new job same dua, every single day. It was hard waking up some days but I forced myself because I knew Allah would answer. The last couple of days doubt formed in my mind, i have been praying for a month straight no changes has happend, im not even getting interviews anymore, it really had a bad toll and I fell into sin. Today I missed waking up on purpose as my worship fell pointless and I fell into another sin which I know is bad and the consequences of it but I still done it. I will seek forgiveness but im tired in life, I feel like Allah has abandoned me.

I am wondering if learning from the malay resources and books and perspectives is okay as someone who is not malay. Do I need to focus on the Arabic resources only or is it allowed to learn from another region's perspectives and resources and knowledge pool?

Salam Alaikum, so two weeks ago there was another thread on guards stopping people from entering Makkah.

What struck out most to me was the arrogance of a non-Muslim commentator in suggesting they had the right to treat the haram as their tourist place.

In general it is becoming increasingly common for people to make up false accusations online about the restriction.

This post will therefore finally give all the reasons why Makkah remains off limits for non-Muslims.

I’m also hopping mods will add this post to the commonly asked FAQs so non-Muslims don’t keep bringing this topic.

1. The Quran is clear on the Restriction

“O you who have believed, indeed the polytheists are unclean, so let them not approach al-Masjid al-Haram after this, their [final] year.” (At-Tabwa 9:28)

As is shown our commands from God are very clear, and the haram is defined via the Meeqat points. The Quran clearly prohibits non-Muslims, and this includes Christian’s and Jews as well.

There are some that will argue that the restriction doesn’t apply to the city, but they are wrong. This isn’t up for any further debate, and the idea of reforming or issuing a fatwa is irrelevant since we cannot go against the words of Allah (SWT).

The key to access the haram is the shahada, since people of the book do not confer the Kaaba to be Abrahamic.

2. Preserving room and space for pilgrims

One of the biggest misunderstandings non-Muslims seem to understand is that the haram can handle tourism just like Jerusalem and Vatican.

This is a very wrong interpretation.

The foot traffic is much more significant in Makkah, and most often hotel rooms and prayer spaces are completely filled. Sometimes the crowds will pray on the streets due to a lack of space.

For many pilgrims they will only get to see the Kaaba and city once, due to visa, health and financial reasoning.

So if tourists and non-Muslim worshippers were allowed it would get very difficult. Every hotel room would be taken over, and even the hotel Isaiah’s would be filled by people gawking.

In addition the mosque is meant only for worshipping and pilgrimage.

It would be unacceptable for tourists to block the path between Safa and Marwah, or to disrupt the prayer congregations around the mataf.

3. Preserving the sanctity

Another key issue people for some reason people ignore is that the Haram is a sanctity and holy site.

This is where millions of people come to peacefully pray and do their pilgrimage.

Yet what I have noticed is the increased amounts of misinformation and slander spreading against mosques in the west by both ex-Muslims and non-Muslims. Also more of the than not they come inside to spread fitnah.

The Haram is not going to become such a place.

We do not need the likes of Jai and Doc, Sam Shamoun, etc coming in with their puppet ex-Muslim to preach and spread misinformation.

What would happen is they would come with their cameras to record and then mistranslate the prayers. Majority of the world doesn’t consider our faith Abrahamic for some reason, so these YouTubers and Tik tokers will make it seem like Imam Dossary or the prayer congregations did something wrong.

From there on non-Muslim audiences will automatically accept whatever misinformation is coming their way. There will also be more risk as many non-Muslims tourists and worshippers will come with such mindset.

4. Prioritizing the safety of our people

This point is further inspired by point 3, a lot of non-Muslims have a neocolonial and disrespectful mentality with regard to Islamic Guidelines.

If tourists were allowed they wouldn’t respect the haram, with them purposefully doing Tik tokers dances, preaching with their bibles, etc.

Also imagine trying to pray peacefully and as your finishing your prayer, people have been reloading and staring at you for no reason.

Or imagine being a niqabi and a non-Muslim woman comes inside wearing beach wear and mocking you will you try focus on Ibadah.

There are way too many who aren’t interested in our dignity either, so there would be a high risk of non-Muslims harassing, attacking or even trying to desecrate the Kaaba.

In addition there are a lot of non-Muslim oppressors that shouldn’t be anywhere near.

Imagine being a Palestinian and coming face to face with an IDF veteran in the Haram that harmed your family.

Imagine being a Gujarati Muslim who suffered in 2002, and you notice a group of RSS leaders roaming with a priest.

Therefore it is important for Makkah to remain closed, and it is not up for further debate or negotiation.